Long Beach city attorney candidates fight on to June runoff election

LONG BEACH >> The bitterly contested race for city attorney will go to the June 3 runoff.

Early Wednesday morning, semi-official results showed City Attorney Charles Parkin in first with 45.1 percent, followed by 7th District Councilman James Johnson at 37.8 percent. The third candidate, civil rights attorney Matthew Pappas, collected 17.1 percent.

With Pappas playing the role of spoiler, no candidate passed the 50 percent mark required to win outright.

That’s good for Johnson, who has railed against the roughly $240,000 in independent expenditures arrayed against him so far this spring.

The money included $208,682 spent by the Long Beach Police Officers Association, which attacked Johnson for his short time practicing law and in fliers urged voters to “re-elect” Parkin. Parkin was appointed by the City Council in July to fulfill the remaining term of the retiring Robert Shannon.

“Even with all that, Long Beach voters showed they can’t be bought and they can’t be fooled,” Johnson said.

Parkin has worked in the City Attorney’s Office since 1995.

He said he had hoped to avoid a runoff but will carry on with the message he has used so far.

“I have the legal experience necessary for this job and would make the best city attorney,” said Parkin. “Experience is required to be able to manage a law firm this size, and that’s what I bring to the table.”

Johnson is a staunch pension reform advocate who has pledged to settle more city lawsuits, specifically police use-of-force cases.

He has committed to taking a more proactive role in advising the city on its policies, an approach criticized by Parkin and others as contrary to the city charter.

“I believe the city attorney should worry not only about the law, but what is right,” Johnson said.

In two other citywide races, incumbent City Attorney Doug Haubert easily avoided a runoff by defeating Rosemary Chavez, a Los Angeles city prosecutor. Haubert had 73.85 percent of the vote to Chavez’s 26.15 percent.

City Auditor Laura Doud was unopposed.

Contact Eric Bradley at 562-499-1254.

Advertisement

About the Author

Eric Bradley covers Long Beach City Hall and politics. He joined the Press-Telegram in August 2011 and previously reported for the Daily Breeze and the Cincinnati Enquirer. Reach the author at eric.bradley@langnews.com
or follow Eric on Twitter: EricBradleyPT.